Dropping his attention back toward Slengral, his eyes widened. The male was racing toward him, his wings snapping in the air. Instinctively, he wheeled back, higher into the air to avoid the collision that was to come, and a sharp snap filled the air.
Slengral swerved suddenly, a look of profound dismay and anger falling over the male’s features that was visible only for a moment when a net snapped around Kehtal with such force and weight that his wings were caught, and he began to plummet to the ground.
Sand rose up to meet him, but the net tugged sharply to the left and the sand was yanked away to reveal something far more unpleasant. The curved shell of the colony lay just below him. For a terrible moment he was certain that he was about to hit it, but the net around him tightened and he jerked roughly against it when it stopped moving with him. The cut of the rope against his scales was uncomfortable, but what hurt more was the pressure against his chest that forcibly expelled every bit of air out of him.
He hung there, suspended and gasping for breath. His eyes rolled as he looked around him with the nervous energy born of panic. He was caught! How?
Turning his head just enough, he saw the instrument of his capture. A tall metal tower rose high above to one side that had resembled the guard posts but far larger and entirely new. Anchored to it he could see some sort of delivery device with the end rope of his net secured to it. He swung from it helplessly.
Dropping his head to relieve the strain on his neck, he stared down at the shell once more only to see that there was something different about it. A large segment drew back, leaving an enormous gaping hole large enough to admit at least half of the males of Aglatha if any had been around to see it.
He could hear the rush of wings coming at him and knew that Slengral was flying over. He was not sure if it was to help him or to take advantage of the opening. Kehtal hoped it was the latter. If the humans were determined to lower him into their colony, he would find Lori and get free a lot faster with Slengral.
A mechanical whirl roared, and Kehtal flopped helplessly in the net as it was steadily and none-too-gently lowered. The rhythmic sound of wings snapping in the air was drowned out by it as he approached a high platform that unfolded just below him from the top of the largest structure. Kehtal’s eyes widened, and his wings kicked up as he struggled against his bonds. He could see humans swarming the platform, weapons in their hands as he was lowered among them. Hands reached out to grab the net and Kehtal barked aggressively, hoping to scare them.
From outside the shell, now above him and sliding shut, he heard the furious rattling and barking of Slengral, the male’s wings streaking through the air as he dropped with an angry bellow. Kehtal struggled, eager to get up and assist should the male make it.
Loud, angry shrieks rose from around him as red lights flashed everywhere, the opening above slamming shut only a moment before Slengral flung his significant mass upon it. The humans around Kehtal ducked, half of them directing their weapons upward nervously as the sound of the male’s impact blasted overhead.
The stink of fear rose thick, and more than one human seemed to tremble as Slengral barked and clawed at the barrier, trying to get in. Kehtal did not know what the shell was made of, but he was surprised to see that claws that easily broke stone left nothing more than thin lines. Kehtal’s eyes shifted to note that there were several large patches marred heavily with lines. It was obvious that this was not the first time his friend had attacked the colony. Slengral had been attacking the colony routinely to free his mate to no avail.
If he could get free, there was a chance that he could discover a way of assisting the other male. Maybe the two of them could attack the same spot from opposite sides and create a weak point. It was only a glimmer of an idea but died when Slengral’s hissing cut off and the male snapped up into the air from the dome as another net fell useless on the shell with an echoing strike.
In a panicked frenzy, Kehtal barked and snarled as he felt the platform lower. The rope had a metallic sheen to it that he could not bite or claw through that just pushed his rage higher. At last, he released a furious shriek when the net tightened around him and numerous hands grabbed ahold of it, dragging him away into the metal mouth of the human nest.
Chapter 38
Slengral dropped down into the sands, his chest heaving with anger as he glared at the colony. Buried beneath all that was the knowledge that he had failed to save his mate, and now Kehtal too.
He had been shocked when he saw Kehtal winging his way over to him. He had not expected to see either of the males he left behind in his nest. Kehtal should not have been there. Slengral had tried warning him, and then when that failed, he had tempted to knock the male out of the sky in order to save him. After several attempts of attacking the colony, he had watched off and on as he dozed beneath the sand as the humans erected the enormous structure beside their dome.
He had known instinctively that with its size it was meant to pose a danger to any attacks from the air, but he had not immediately realized how they would retaliate. Not until after he attacked the dome once more after the suns set in attempt to scare them into freeing his mate. He had learned that his claws were useless against the shell protecting the colony and so he made his attacks louder and as frightening as possible.
That was when he discovered the purpose of the structure—and had come face to face with the net. Several times in the first part of the night, he had just barely managed to avoid it. Kehtal would have had no trouble if he had been aware of it.
Remorse hit Slengral hard. He could not leave them in there, but he did not know what to do.
Dropping back down into the sand, he flattened himself and settled in to watch once more, to see if he could see any weakness that would present an opportunity to him. Even if there were one during the day, he would take advantage of it even if it meant risking his scales to the full exposure of the sun. He would do anything to free them.
He owed Kehtal. And he would do anything and everything for Lori.
A sound outside of her cell roused Lori from her doze. Turning on her uncomfortable bed, she stared out at the wall across from her that contained the grisly horrors within. Now that she had experienced an actual cell for twenty-four hours, she was never again going to complain about what the Seshanamitesh called a cell. A frown creased her brow, and she pushed herself up to a seated position.
She hadn’t seen anyone at all in hours. She was interrogated late into the morning, plied with questions she couldn’t possibly know the answers to, and then had blood and skin samples taken later in the day. Everly was the only one who even tried to talk to her like a human being, and because it was too late for her to feel anything but a deep resentment toward anyone associated with the Corp, she ignored him and his phony-ass remorse until he finally gave up and left. Otherwise, her captivity had been uneventful. She slept on and off with no other purpose, waking only to eat the food slid into her cell.
There hadn’t been any activity for a while, so the sudden illumination in the outer room beyond the cells and the echo of many feet racing down the hall on the other side of the door surprised her.
Pressing her chest against the front of her cell, she craned her neck in attempt to get a view of the door. Whatever was coming, they were in a hurry to get it there. She jumped in surprise when the doors burst open, slamming against the walls. A dozen guards piled in, their frantic shouts filling the room as they struggled with whatever was contained between them.
Patricks came in after them, an excited look on his face that made her stomach sink. Anything that him that happy and everyone else in the room nervous was bad news. She had little doubt that it could be anything other than a Seshanamitesh, and given that males were the only ones attacking the colony, a hunter. Her stomach dropped, knowing exactly what that now meant for her immediate future now that they actually caught one as Patricks had promised.
“Over there! Put it over there in the cell,” he barked.
&nb
sp; Lori froze as the group hurried toward her with a massive net between them. They froze for a moment when a medic hollered for them to wait.
The same medic who had examined her rushed forward, his dark hair flopping in his eyes as he pulled his gloves on and lifted a needle containing some sort of clear fluid in his hand.
“Hold it still,” he called out. “I have to find a spot where the scales are thinnest under its jaw so the needle can puncture.”
Muscles tensed, and curses filled the air as the guards locked in tightly together, their arms and legs straining as the medic leaned over in a small space provided for him. A thrashing sound and a volatile hiss later, and everyone seemed to relax as one.
Lori guessed whatever they gave their captive must have worked.
“Quickly,” the medic instructed, “put it in the cell before it wakes. It will be a few hours yet before I have the equipment ready to sex it.”
“That means you are on call, gentlemen,” Patricks said as he followed them toward her cell. “Do not go far because you will be required to move that thing in and out of containment.”
The automatic volley of “yes, sirs” made Lori grind her teeth, but she watched silently as they approached and carried their burden into the cell next to hers. The net was dropped toward the rear of the cell, and half of the guards left it there while those remaining worked to cut through the rope with their knives.
Wrapping her arms around her waist, Lori shuffled back to the center of her room, unable to resist trying to get a look at her new roommate. All she could see, however, were the uniformed backs of the guards and huge lengths of rope that were cut away, wound up, and handed off to another guard standing just behind them. Even so, she was unable to look away, her tongue glued to the roof of her mouth, until they finally drew back leaving a coiled mess of a Seshanamitesh unconscious on the floor.
She couldn’t see his face since one wing had been left open at a strange angle that obscured his features so that all she could see was the deep autumnal russet-orange of its scales. The tip of his tail twitched, and Patricks laughed, drawing her gaze to where he stood at the other side of the barrier between them.
He nodded toward the Seshanamitesh. “How do you like your new cellmate? I think the guards are starting to place bets on whether or not you can take him. And to think that this is a small snake,” he chuckled.
She swallowed back the nausea that rose up. “Hard to say since you shot him up with something,” she replied. She couldn’t deny that being locked up with one of the aliens attacking the colony left her feeling faint. On the other hand, she knew she had less to fear from Seshanamitesh than she did from the man standing outside of her cell. She peered over at Patricks and curled her lip at him. “But from what I can tell, they’re still better than the asshole of a snake standing on the other side of the wall.”
His face darkened for a moment, but it passed. Within the next breath, he laughed her comment off and tipped his head toward her. She turned her head away, preferring to look at the male confined with her.
Although she knew that he was incapable of raping her, she really hoped that he didn’t try to eat her instead.
“Since you feel that way, I’ll let you get friendly with a bit of peace and privacy. I say you have about… oh, five minutes before that thing wakes up. Enjoy, Citizen Straford,” he called back as he strode out of the room, leaving her alone with this unconscious alien.
She eyed the male, only half-aware that she was counting his breaths, her own breathing altering until it was in time with his as she waited anxiously. At last, the long body shifted, and the tail stretched out, the wings fanning wide blocking off her view of his entire body, but from his tail alone she was able to agree that he wasn’t as big as Slengral who seemed to be on the slightly larger end of average for his species from what he told her.
Slowly the wings drew back, and groggy citrine eyes blinked open, the pupil expanding and narrowing as it focused on her. Lori’s breath caught in her throat, her eyes tearing.
“Lori?” he rasped, and his wings trembled as his eyes lifted and slid around their cage.
“Kehtal!”
She rushed forward to console him until she noticed that he wasn’t afraid but enraged. Eyes flashing, his head snapped toward her and he quickly—if somewhat clumsily due to the drugs in his system—hurried over to the other side of the wall separating them.
“Lori, you are safe,” he hissed. His head swiveled again, his gavo rising before he looked once at her. “We are captured. What is this place?” He flattened a hand against the clear wall and bared his fangs in frustration only to jerk back when the door automatically opened an inch from his hand.
Covering the remaining distance between them, Lori ran through the door and threw her arms around him, crushing him to her. He swayed a little, but his arms and wings folded around her, taking the cue.
“I will explain everything,” she whispered.
Chapter 39
She didn’t have time to tell him much more than the basics of what had happened and what Patricks wanted before the medic returned with a larger needle cartridge that he loaded into a dart gun. The weapon fired quickly, the dart sinking into the soft part of his neck once more so that Kehtal dropped like a rock. Lori turned horrified eyes upon him, but he was already turning away just as Patricks strode in with his entourage of guards. The commander’s cool gaze touched on Kehtal.
“Is it unconscious?”
“No. We discovered before that this part doesn’t work with them unconscious unless you are determined to simply hack it out in pieces. Its body will be paralyzed for the most part, but I have given him a drug cocktail that will stimulate its reproductive organs. A little manual effort and we should be able to force an extrusion if its male.”
“Perfect.”
Lori blanched, her arms tightening around the male when the guards came for him, but any fight she put up was quickly quelled by a slap and a rough shove. Even then, her nails tore on his hard scales, trying desperately to cling to him as Kehtal was dragged away to be strapped down the on the same examination table that had held her the night before.
Ignoring her pain, she raced to the side of the cell and slapped her hands on it as hard as she could.
“Wait. Stop! You don’t need to do this. I know him!”
Patricks gave her a hard look but nodded to the medic when he looked up.
“Do it. I don’t want there to be any doubts as to the success of this experiment. We need to know if this one is worth the time and money to keep or if we should dispose of him and try for that big buck that has been hammering at this place.”
Slengral. They had to be talking about him. He would never give her up.
The medic nodded and proceeded to dig two of his gloved fingers into a soft patch of scales. Kehtal grunted at the pressure and then hissed in a way that Lori couldn’t be certain if it was pleasure or pain. She had no doubts when in the next moment a scream gurgled up from the male’s lax throat as his pale pink phallus was forced out from the slit.
Disgust churned her stomach as the medic immediately applied stimulation to it, making it swell further as Kehtal helplessly screamed until it was rigid and pearling with cum. He immediately released it, leaving the Seshanamitesh panting in agony as he stepped away to grab a clear sheet. He swiped it over the head of Kehtal’s cock to retrieve a sample and ran it through the medical data analyzer in the corner of the room. He tapped at his datapad as he waited for the results. Lori’s stomach dropped when he finally lifted his eyes to meet those of the commander.
“Despite his comparatively small size to other adult male specimens who were acquired, he appears to be a fully functional male of sexual maturity.”
“All that matters is: will he get the job done?”
The medic nodded. “As long as he deposits in her, whatever mutagen that is sexually transmitted should carry over.”
“Perfect. That’s all I need to know.” Patricks
waved to the guards. “Take it back in there with her.” He turned his head just enough to raise an eyebrow. “And the sexual stimulants in its blood should make it ready to mate, correct?”
The medic nodded, his eyes remaining studiously fastened to his screen, a faint color tinging his cheeks.
“Yes. From what we’ve observed, the stimulation is extremely painful to his species without relief.”
She watched Patricks nod out of the corner of her eye, but her remaining attention shifted fully to Kehtal as the guards unstrapped him and lifted him off the table and hauled him into his cell. They dropped him on the floor without ceremony, the heavy thud of his body making her wince in sympathy. She eyed the guards, keeping her distance, but the moment they filed out, the door sealing and locking behind them as they followed Patricks, she rushed over to the male groaning weakly in pain.
She dropped to her knees beside him, her hands reaching out to comfort. “Kehtal?”
“Back,” he hissed, the tip of his tail moving sluggishly.
“What do you mean ‘back?’” she huffed in exasperation.
He didn’t answer but raised his wing around his body as if shielding himself.
“You’re lying in a heap on the floor. It can’t be comfortable. At least let me help you up into the bed… well, the pitiful excuse passing for a bed,” she amended with a glance at the thin mattress stretched across a metal platform.
She doubted that it would be anywhere near comfortable for an alien of his size. Despite being the smaller of the Seshanamitesh males she personally knew, he was at least twice her size with that long tail of his.
Serpents of the Abyss (The Darvel Exploratory Systems #2) Page 27
